On many website rental plans, the site comes down when you stop paying. What should stay yours, whatever the plan, is your domain name, your Google Business Profile, and the photos, logo and anything else you supplied. Whether they really are depends on how the plan was set up, so check before you leave.
Some plans don’t take the site down: you pay it off over a set term and keep it, or take the files with you when you go. Either can be fair, as long as you know which one you’re on.
What comes down, and what should stay yours
| Usually goes when the plan ends | Should stay yours |
|---|---|
| The website: its design, pages and code | Your domain name |
| The hosting that keeps it online | Your Google Business Profile, and its reviews |
| The changes and support the plan included | Your photos, logo and anything else you supplied |
You were renting the left column. The right column is where people get caught out: a domain or Google profile set up in the provider’s name instead of yours.
Three questions to ask before you sign any plan
- How long is the minimum term, and what does leaving early cost? The minimum terms we’ve seen in New Zealand run from six months to two years, and leaving inside one usually means paying out the rest.
- Whose name is the domain registered in? It should be yours or your business’s, even if the provider looks after it.
- What can I take with me? The site, the files, or nothing? The photos you supplied? The words they wrote?
Get the answers in writing, and be wary of any plan that won’t answer all three plainly.
How to leave a plan cleanly
Sort these out before you give notice.
- Get control of your domain. Ask for a login where it’s registered, or its transfer code to move it to your own registrar, and check it’s in your name.
- Make sure you own your Google Business Profile. Its settings should list you as the owner, not only a manager. If the provider is the owner, ask them to transfer it to you; they can stay on as a manager until you go.
- Get a copy of what you supplied: your photos, your logo, anything else you handed over. Ask whether the words on the site are yours to reuse, and what happens to your email address if it runs through the provider.
- Time it to the end of the term. Have the next site ready to go live the day the old one comes down, and point your domain at it, so anyone searching for you still finds a working website.
How it works with us
Every plan with The Boring Web Co runs month to month after a six-month minimum, which is what lets us charge no build fee, and the fee covers the build, the hosting and every change for as long as you’re with us. Leave inside the six months and the rest of the six months is still owed.
You hold a licence to use the site, and the design and code stay with us, so when the subscription ends, the site comes down. Your domain, your photos and anything else you gave us stay yours throughout, and so does your Google Business Profile, which we set up with you as its owner.
If money gets tight, or you’re thinking of leaving, ring or email Craig before the invoices pile up. He looks after you, and something sorted early is easier on everyone. The FAQ covers late payments and coming back later, and the pricing page has the three plans. If you’re weighing up a move, here’s what the other options cost, small print included.
Should you leave your current plan at all?
Start with whether your current site is doing its job. Run the free report on it: Google scores every website out of 100, the report says in plain English what’s holding yours back, and if it comes back fine, we’ll say so.